The Bible Says
Luke 1:76-79 Meaning

There are no apparent parallel gospel accounts of Luke 1:67-75.

In Luke 1:76-79, Zechariah concludes his prophecy by focusing on who his son, John, will become and the great role he will play in preparing the way for the Messiah.

After prophesying about how recent events and the imminent coming of the Messiah will bring salvation to the present generation of Israel (Luke 1:67-75), Zacharias begins the second and last part of his prophecy. This part of his prophecy focuses on John, Zacharias and Elizabeth’s newborn baby son.

Zacharias transitions from talking about “us”-i.e. the present and perhaps future generations of Israel (Luke 1:69)-to directly speaking to his infant son John.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways (v 76).

Both the pronoun-you-and the noun-child-refer to Zacharias’s miraculous baby boy.

The first thing Zacharias prophesies to his baby son is that you will be called the prophet of the Most High. John would be a prophet of Yahweh, the Most High God. And people would recognize John as a prophet of God.

This prophecy was fulfilled when the people flocked to John in the wilderness to hear him preach his message of repentance and to be baptized by him (Mark 1:5, Luke 3:3).

Also, Jesus personally confirmed that John was a prophet of the Most High when He said that people went into the wilderness to see and hear John the prophet (Matthew 11:9).

Because John was a prophet of the Most High he was like Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. This means the words John prophesied were not simply wise teachings, they were direct messages from the LORD God almighty.

Zacharias went onto describe John’s prophetic purpose: For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways.

This spoke to John’s role as the Messianic forerunner.

When Gabriel announced to Zacharias in the temple that he and his wife would have a son, the angel told him that John “will go as a forerunner before Him (the Messiah) in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).

Zacharias’s prophecy reiterated the angel’s prediction about John’s special role. But Gabriel used language from the prophet Malachi to describe John as the forerunner (Malachi 4:5-6). Zacharias used language similar to the prophet Isaiah to describe his son’s important role. Isaiah wrote:

“A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”
(Isaiah 40:3)

Isaiah says the voice will “clear the way for the LORD” (Isaiah 40:3). Zacharias says John, (who is that voice), will prepare His ways.

All four gospel writers quote Isaiah 40:3 to describe John’s prophetic ministry (Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4-6, John 1:23).

Zacharias’s prophecy then describes what John will do to prepare the way of the Messiah.

John’s preparatory role for the Messiah will be to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins (v 77).

Zacharias recognized that his son’s role would not be to bring salvation himself, but to give Israel the knowledge of salvation.

Salvation came through Jesus, the Messiah (Matthew 1:21, 26:28). Jesus forgave people for their sins-for only God could forgive sins (Luke 5:21-24). And Jesus bore the sins of the world, that all who believe will be saved (Colossians 2:14, John 3:14-15).

In giving people the knowledge of salvation, John made God’s people aware of four things:

• Their sin and God’s judgment against their sin
• God’s heart to forgive if they would repent of their sin
• The imminent coming of the Messiah and His kingdom
• The identity of the Messiah

The most important of these four things was the knowledge of who the Messiah was. After preparing the way, John identified Jesus as the Messiah when He said:

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
(John 1:29)

And:

“I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
(John 1:34)

Before John identified Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, John prepared the way by teaching the people the first three things about the knowledge of salvation (sin and judgment; repentance and God’s heart towards sinners; and the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom).

John’s message, according to Matthew was: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). Luke summarized John’s message as “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3b).

By drawing attention to people’s sinful behavior and attitudes, John enabled them to see themselves according to reality and the consequences they were sowing for themselves-His judgment. This gave them true perspective, which is the fear of the Lord. When we operate in the fear of the Lord we live according to reality and God’s good design and will for our lives. When we operate in the fear of the Lord, we follow His life-giving ways rather than the self-destructive ways available to us from following the fear of what others think of us.

That is why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). To fear something is to alter our actions based on the consequences we believe will come from that person or thing. An example would be altering our behavior to avoid being arrested by a policeman. When we believe what God says about consequences, then we will understand and follow His ways.

See The Bible Says article “What Does it Mean to Fear the LORD?” to learn more on this topic.

But John did not just preach judgment of sins. He preached a gospel of forgiveness of sins.

God’s heart is for people, not against them. God is willing and eager to forgive the sins of people so that they can live in harmony and fellowship with Him and according to His incredible design and plan for their lives (Exodus 34:6, Psalm 86:5, Isaiah 55:6-7, Micah 7:18-19, 1 John 1:9). This is because God loves the entire world (John 3:16).

Isaiah had similarly prophesied how the Messianic forerunner would be a voice of comfort and consolation:

“‘Comfort, O comfort My people,’ says your God. ‘Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed.’”
(Isaiah 40:1-2).

John’s message would be the forerunner of this comfort, declaring that through the coming One, Israel’s iniquity could be removed.

(This commentary will discuss more about the God’s merciful heart and the words of comfort when we comment on verse 78).

If people would repent and turn from their sins then God would forgive their sins. The Greek word for “repent” literally means to change one’s mind about something. To repent of sins means to change your perspective about what you are doing/have done and see that it is not good, but bad. And then live according to that new perspective.

John’s message of forgiveness of sins always came with a call to repent (change mind/actions) of sins. For John, repentance was a prerequisite for forgiveness.

But it is important to note that John’s preaching of repentance was not offering salvation from eternal separation from God. John was not offering the Gift of Eternal Life. The Gift of Eternal Life includes the forgiveness of sins on the basis of believing in Jesus as the Messiah and God’s Son (John 3:14-16, Ephesians 2:8-9). John did point people to Jesus, the author and source of life. John testified that Jesus is the “Son of God” and the “Lamb of God” (John 1:34, 36).

God the Father forgives us our sins and its penalty of eternal separation from Him in the Lake of Fire on the basis of His mercy and grace poured out for us in Jesus’s sacrificial death for us on the cross (Hebrews 10:10). His death paid our penalty. We receive the gift of His grace through faith-i.e. entrusting ourselves to the Son of God’s death and resurrection. We do not earn the Gift of Eternal Life through the work of repenting of our sins; rather we receive the free Gift of Eternal life based on faith in Jesus (Romans 5:15-17).

Believers in Jesus are delivered forever from being consumed in the Lake of Fire. But for a believer in Jesus, who has received the Gift of Eternal Life through faith, there are still other consequences of sin. We can see an example of this in the progression of the adverse consequences of sin from lust to addiction then to loss of mental health in Romans 1:14, 26, 28.

Believers still need ongoing forgiveness and constant cleansing of our sins to remain in fellowship and intimacy with God (1 John 1:7-9). If we, as believers, do not daily repent of our sins, we are still saved from eternal damnation, but we are in danger of living a fruitless life that is displeasing to Jesus-and there will be other consequences besides damnation that such self-sufficient believers who have the Gift of Eternal Life will suffer.

The tragic consequences a self-sufficient believer can suffer include:

• Enduring Life’s trials in our own weakness and folly instead of overcoming them in God’s power and with Him at our side
  (John 15:5)

• Not knowing Jesus by faith
  (John 17:3)

• Missing out on having an inheritance in the Messianic Kingdom
  (Matthew 7:21,)

• Losing our place at the Messianic banquet of honor
  (Luke 13:24-28, Matthew 22:11-13, 25:11-12)

• Losing out on our destiny to reign in the new heaven and the new earth
  (Romans 8:17, 2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 3:21)

• Having all of our life’s work burn up at our judgment and missing out on heavenly rewards
  (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

But even if we stumble through life leaning on our own understanding, lose our inheritance and miss the kingdom, and ultimately watch all our works burn up, we will still be saved so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:15) and we can be comforted that nothing will separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).

But repenting and confessing one’s sins is required to inherit the Prize of Eternal Life. And a major component of the Prize of Eternal Life is to enter the kingdom through living out its premises in a walk of faith.

John’s call to repent for the forgiveness of sins was not about receiving the Gift of Eternal Life. His message of repentance and forgiveness of sins concerned entering the kingdom and therefore gaining the Prize of Eternal Life. John called this “fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:9).

This was why John the Baptist emphasized repentance because the King and His kingdom were both coming soon.

The approach of the Messiah and His kingdom were the third pillar of John’s message.

And if the people of Israel wished to participate in the Messiah’s kingdom, they would have to repent of their sins and change their ways to follow the King’s will.

John baptized people in water as a public sign of repentance. Baptism for John was a public statement that a person had changed from living a life of sin and was now seeking to live a life pleasing to God in anticipation that the Messiah and His kingdom were at hand.

John prepared the way, by preparing the hearts of Israel to welcome the Messiah when He came.

In this way, John’s preparatory work fulfilled his father’s prophecy-he would awaken Israel to the knowledge that salvation was coming, not through political deliverance, but through a merciful and gracious forgiveness offered by God in the person of His Messiah.

To learn more about John, see The Bible Says article: “Who was John the Baptist?”

After describing what his son, the Messianic forebearer, will do, Zacharias then elaborates on God’s forgiveness of sins by describing God’s heart:

Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us (v 78).

The reason our God offers forgiveness of sins is because of His tender mercy-period.

The tender mercy of our God is the wellspring from which the entire plan of salvation flows. It is not human worthiness or effort that draws His saving intervention, but His deep and compassionate mercy-a mercy that moved Him to visit and redeem His people. It was God’s love for the world that motivated Him to give His only begotten Son (John 3:16).

Earlier in Zacharias’s prophecy he spoke of this redemption being accomplished through a horn of salvation raised up from the house of David (Luke 1:69). This is a clear fulfillment of God’s covenant promises made to the fathers (v. 72). The tender mercy of our God is the heart behind these promises. God’s covenants were never disinterested legal arrangements.

God’s precepts were also not ways to manipulate God. Even though the wickedness of human hearts twisted God’s tenants, God’s love remained steadfast (Matthew 15:3,19:8, Romans 5:8, 7:12). God’s covenants were always expressions of His steadfast love and compassion toward His people. In His covenants, God set forth the path that would lead to the greatest flourishing for His people. A society that loves and serves God by loving and serving one another will, quite obviously, be a vastly superior place to live versus a society based on the pagan culture where the strong exploit the weak.

Because of God’s tender mercy, Zacharias predicts that the Sunrise from on high will visit us.

The image of the Sunrise (or “Dayspring,” as some translations render it) reflects the dawning of a new era of hope and restoration after a long night of spiritual darkness.

The image of the Sunrise symbolizes the nearness of God’s presence being brought near, the warmth of His mercy and the light of His truth into the dark coldness of human sin and despair.

What Zacharias prophesies through Jewish imagery of the coming Sunrise is comparable to how the Gospel of John introduces Jesus as “the Light [who] shines in the darkness” (John 1:5) and “the true Light [who]… enlightens every man” (John 1:9).

And both Zacharias and the gospel writer describe John the Baptist’s role to proclaim the coming of the Light/Sunrise in similar terms,

“There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.”
(John 1:6-8)

In Zacharias’s vision, this Sunrise is not a mere change of circumstances or necessarily a dawn of a new era. It is the Messiah Himself. The Sunrise is the personal arrival of God’s salvation in the person of Jesus. Jesus the Messiah embodies the mercy of God, visiting His people with healing, forgiveness, and the promise of peace (v 79).

Just as in the first half of his prophecy, Zacharias had declared that “[God] had visited us and accomplished redemption for His people” (Luke 1:68), now he proclaims that the Sunrise from on high will visit us.

Zacharias concludes His prophecy by describing what the Messiah’s work will be like.

Zacharias says the Messiah/Sunrise is to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death (v 79a).

This alludes to Messianic prophecies from the Psalms and Isaiah.

The clearest allusion is to Isaiah 9:2 which says:

“The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.”
(Isaiah 9:2)

Both Zacharias and Isaiah’s prophecies describe how the Messiah will shine upon people in darkness. Matthew directly quotes Isaiah 9:2 as being fulfilled when he introduces the beginning of Jesus’s ministry in Galilee (Matthew 4:12-16).

Zacharias also seems to allude to Psalm 23:4 as the psalmist writes about how the LORD, his Shepherd, comforts him “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”  Zacharias appears to be prophesying that the Messiah will deliver Israel through the shadow of death.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and He will deliver Israel from the shadow of death by dying on the cross and rising back to life again. Jesus is also the Resurrection and the Life and He gives eternal life to all who believe in Him (John 11:25).

Zacharias concludes his prophecy with one final statement about what the Messiah will do. The Messiah is to guide our feet into the way of peace (v 79b).

The Hebraic idea of peace is “shalom.” Shalom describes more than the mere absence of conflict or a hollow incomplete justice. It describes a sense of perfect harmony and wholeness to all things in themselves and with all creation. Shalom is a flourishing in every aspect of life. Shalom is the world as God intended it. God’s precepts show humanity the path to Shalom.

The Messianic child whom Isaiah foretells will be born to us, who is also the son who will be given for us (Isaiah 9:6a), will also bring Shalom:

“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.”
(Isaiah 9:7)

Jesus the Messiah, on whose shoulders the government will rest (Isaiah 9:6b), will guide Israel’s feet into the way of peace.

Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14) who is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).

Jesus is the perfect human whose teachings and example guide our steps into the Shalom of the good life (John 10:10).

This ends Zacharias’s prophecy about what God is doing in the life of Israel, and how his special son John will prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah, who will change everything.